April 2017 Investment Performance

A slowdown in the US expansion is a growing risk that could challenge corporate earnings and stock market valuations in the coming months… US commercial and industrial loan growth has slowed dramatically with quarter-over-quarter growth contracting in Q1/2017 for the first time since 2009.

We remain cautious in our equity portfolios with the current environment of relatively higher valuations. As a result, the cash weighting remains elevated compared to historical levels, with the AFINA Optima10 at 33.5% of cash, versus 55% in the AFINA Affinity portfolio. We initiated positions in Qualcomm and Lear Corporation over the past several days as valuations for both companies have become attractive over the past few months.

An overview of the performance of our actively-managed products is as follows:

The AFINA Optima10 was up +0.7% in April, and was up +23.9% in 2016 compared to the benchmark return of +14.8%.

The AFINA Affinity was down 0.6% in April, and was up +20.6% in 2016 compared to the benchmark return of +14.8%.

Instruments (% return)

Apr. 2017

2017

2016

AFINA Affinity

(0.6)

(0.2)

20.6

AFINA Optima10

0.7

3.8

23.9

Benchmark (1)

2.0

5.9

14.8

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